USD receives $3M for tech learning center

Dr. Irwin Jacobs, center, talks with educators Monday morning in the Garden by the Sea at the University of San Diego. At his right is Larry Perondi, superintendent at Oceanside Unified School District, and with back to camera are Paula Cordeiro, Dean of USD's School of Leadership and Education Sciences, left, and USD President Mary Lyons, right. Jacobs and his wife, Joan, pledged $3 million to USD's Mobile Technology Learning Center.
— Peggy Peattie

Dr. Irwin Jacobs, center, talks with educators Monday morning in the Garden by the Sea at the University of San Diego. At his right is Larry Perondi, superintendent at Oceanside Unified School District, and with back to camera are Paula Cordeiro, Dean of USD's School of Leadership and Education Sciences, left, and USD President Mary Lyons, right. Jacobs and his wife, Joan, pledged $3 million to USD's Mobile Technology Learning Center.
— Peggy Peattie

High technology has become an integral component of modern K-12 school education.

Now the University of San Diego, with a big assist from Irwin and Joan Jacobs, will try to find out what really works and what doesn’t.

The Jacobs pledged to give $3 million to USD’s School of Leadership & Education Science’s Mobile Technology Learning Center, which was started with $550,0000 in seed money the Jacobs provided in late 2011.

The latest gift will be used to hire a director for the fledgling center, help it attract researchers and expand the research and training it does with local school districts already deploying iPads, iPods and other mobile devices in their classrooms.

“It is not a question of whether we are going to use educational technology in our classrooms, it is a question about how effectively we can use technology to obtain the greatest benefits for our students and their teachers,” Paula Cordeiro, dean of the School of Leadership & Education Science, said Monday at a news conference.

The center conducts research on the use of technology in schools and helps school districts find ways to improve learning through technology. The center also will compile a database of the research already done in the field worldwide and identify “best practices” to be shared.

“We are bringing great faculty, talented doctoral students and our committed local school partners together in the mobile technology learning center… to provide insight on issues of effectiveness and return on investment,” she said. “Our goal is that the (center’s) work will assist in preparing future teacher and support practicing teachers through district trainings and online professional development.”

Jacobs, the co-founder of Qualcomm, said has long believed in “the great power of technology in education” and expects it to make a major difference in pre-K, K-12 and higher education in the next decade.

“We are still going through a very rapid learning phase,” he said. “The devices that the kids can carry around with them now are very powerful computers, full-time communication. So much can be done; the question is how can we best make use of that.”

Students with 24/7 access to the Internet via smartphones or other digital devices can ask peers to help them with homework, expanding learning beyond the classroom. Jacobs said he expects the development of digital textbooks to allow more “personalized learning” and bring about even more changes.

While there are many in higher education who are looking at the deployment of technology in the classroom, Jacobs said he felt like USD was well positioned to tackle the issue at a dedicated center.

“There is lots of experimenting going on, lots of different approaches. How do you handle the teacher education, how do you handle so much material becoming available? One needs an academic look at these issues,” Jacobs said. “There are a number of such examinations going around but I thought the USD (School of Leadership & Education) is a very good school that has not only students but also (works closely with) superintendents, so it’s a very balanced approach. This would be a good location to focus on this.”

So far, USD has been working with four school districts — Encinitas Union, Cajon Valley Union, Coronado and Solana Beach — to research how students and teachers are using technology in the classroom. In addition to its research efforts, the center also provides teacher training assistance.

“We are taking a look at what is happening to kids, what is happening to teachers vis-a-vis how they are using the technology, the effectiveness of that use and eventually we will get to measure what if any are the positive outcomes of it,” said Scott Himelstein, who is director of the Center for Education Policy and Law and has served as interim director of the Mobile Technology Learning Center.

USD also plans to build a state-of-the-art learning lab that will be an “inviting space” for teachers and administrators to look at various technology devices and applications and software as well as demonstrations of instruction, Himelstein said. The university also offers certificates in mobile learning technology to teachers and administrators who complete a 100-hour course.

Starting four years ago, the Encinitas district began providing iPads to its 5,500 students in the K-6 district and next year will be unveiling a “full digital curriculum” in its classrooms, said Superintendent Timothy Baird. He said the work his district has done with USD has helped provide better professional development to teachers.

Baird said it is important teachers don’t treat the devices as an “add on” but instead embrace an entirely different way of teaching with them.

“We came to them and said give us some feedback how to best to implement this very involved program,” Baird said. “From that came a research study that has given us very specific feedback that we are now using to help prepare for training our teachers next year. It has been very valuable for us.”

The USD study showed that some teachers are experienced educators but don’t have the technical skills while others are technically proficient but lack experience. As a result, the district will try to differentiate its teacher training to meet all the needs of its educators.

Steve Clemons, the assistant superintendent for technology for the county Office of Education, said there is a need for the work that the USD center is doing. The county office offers its own certificate courses for teachers on digital literacy and how to use technology effectively to teach students online and in “blended” classes that use online and in-person instruction.

“There is a tremendous need for the teacher training because what’s happening is the teacher is confronted with all these devices and really don’t know how to use them effectively for learning,” Clemons said.

karen.kucher@utsandiego.com

June 17, 2013 San Diego, CA. USA | Dr Irwin Jacobs, center right, talks with educators Monday morning in the Garden by thte Sea at the University of San Diego. At right is Larry Perondi, and with back to camera are Paula Cordeiro, Dean of USD’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences, left, and USD president Mary Lyons, right. Dr. Irwin and Mrs. Joan Jacobs have given a $3 million gift to University of San Diego for the development of USD’s Mobile Technology Learning Center. | Mandatory photo credit: Peggy Peattie/U-T San Diego/ZUMA Press; Copyright U-T